Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - chance

 I. noun  Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *cadentia fall, from Latin cadent-, cadens, present participle of cadere to fall; perhaps akin to Sanskrit sad- to fall off  Date: 14th century  1.  a. something that happens unpredictably without discernible human intention or observable cause  b. the assumed impersonal purposeless determiner of unaccountable happenings ; luck an outcome decided by ~  c. the fortuitous or incalculable element in existence ; contingency  2. a situation favoring some purpose ; opportunity needed a ~ to relax  3. a fielding opportunity in baseball  4.  a. the possibility of a particular outcome in an uncertain situation; also the degree of likelihood of such an outcome a small ~ of success  b. plural the more likely indications ~s are he's already gone  5.  a. risk not taking any ~s  b. a raffle ticket  • ~ adjective  II. verb  (~d; chancing)  Date: 14th century  intransitive verb  1.  a. to take place, come about, or turn out by ~ ; happen it ~d to rain that day  b. to have the good or bad luck we ~d to meet  2. to come or light by ~ they ~d upon a remote inn  transitive verb  1. to leave the outcome of to ~  2. to accept the hazard of ; risk knew the trip was dangerous but decided to ~ it